Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerStephen Gionta was set to make his NHL debut Friday night.

Back from a 2-4-0 road trip, the Devils hosted the Rangers Friday night at the Prudential Center.

Martin Brodeur was unable to play because of a bruised right elbow so Johan Hedberg was in goal for the Devils. Defenseman Anton Volchenkov returned after missing 12 games with a broken nose and stiff neck, but Colin White was out with the flu.

Stephen Gionta, the younger brother of former Devils right winger Brian Gionta, made his NHL debut at 1:53 of the first period.

Rookie defenseman Alex Urbom was in for White.

Henrik Lundqvist was in goal for the Rangers.

THIRD PERIOD

Ilya Kovalchuk was sent off 15 minutes into the period for roughing when he elbowed Ruslan Fedotenko.

It was a 3-0 deficit for the Devils when the Rangers scored a shorthanded goal at 3:41. Hedberg deflected a Todd White shot from the right circle, but Brandon Dubinsky followed and scored at the right post.

David Clarkson received a five-minute major for boarding Brian Boyle at 5:17.

Attendance was announced as a sellout of 17,625. It was the first home sellout since opening night.

With 3:06 left, the Devils are outshooting the Rangers, 31-19.

SECOND PERIOD

Evgeny Grachev wrapped a shot around the right post at 2:35 but Hedberg made the stop.

Sean Avery took a stick in the face from Adam Mair at 3:40. No penalty was called.

Lundqvist turned aside a Gionta shot from the top of the right circle at the 6:00 mark.

Jason Arnott's backhander went just wide before he was knocked down in front of the net at 11:42 by Marc Staal. Arnott tipped a shot on net at 12:04, but the Rangers withstood the pressure.

The Devils were outshooting the Rangers, 17-10.

Ilya Kovalchuk's shot at 13:36 deflected off Lundqvist's glove.

With 4:05 left, Lundqvist made a glove save on Gionta from the left circle.

Dainius Zubrus was in the box when Hedberg stopped Todd White. However, Dan Girardi scored with 23 seconds remaining on the power play to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Brandon Dubinsky won the faceoff with Rod Pelley in the left circle and the Rangers got the puck back to Girardi at the point. The defenseman took a wrist shot from the blue line that eluded Hedberg as Brian Boyle tipped the puck in from the slot.

The goal, originally credited to Girardi but later changed to Boyle, came with 35.5 seconds left in the period.

The Devils are outshooting the Rangers, 23-12.

End of period: Rangers 2, Devils 0

FIRST PERIOD

The Devils started a line of Rod Pelley, Adam Mair and David Clarkson with Volchenkov and Olivier Magnan on defense.

Gionta skated at right wing on a line with Alexander Vasyunov and center Brad Mills.

Mills skated out from the left corner for a jam on net at 5:42, but Lundqvist made the save.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead at 7:35 when Artem Anisimov chipped a cross-slot pass to Brandon Dubinsky in the right circle for the goal. It was Dubinsky's ninth goal of the season.

Late in the period the Patrik Elias-Jason Arnott-Dainius Zubrus line put together several scoring chances. Arnott's sharp angle shot from the right corner gave Lundqvist trouble at 13:28 but the puck dropped outside the right post.

With 5:57 left, Lundqvist stopped Arnott's backhander from below the left circle.

Lundqvist made a blocker save on Andy Greene's shot with 5:18 on the clock.

Pelley had a chance with 4:20 to go but couldn't get a lot on his redirection from the slot.

Zubrus, now skating with Pelley and Vasyunov, had two great chances in close but failed to get his stick on either. With 2:08 left, the Devils were outshooting the Rangers, 11-3.

Volchenkov drew cheers from the crowd when he checked Sean Avery into the boards with 1:32 left. Later, behind the net, Avery got caught in Volchenkov's stick and tripped, drawing a penalty.